|
|
|
|
|
|
METAFORIX MAIL Volume 1, Issue 35 April 3, 2001 Thanks
to you, our readership is growing. Please pass this issue along to a friend
or colleague who may find a useful data nugget within it. CONTENTS AT A GLANCE: ON
MY MIND: When I Call You Up, My Mind's Engaged ON MY MIND [From the Editor] "Is This the Party to Whom I Am Speaking?" When you call someone on the phone, do you ever find yourself wondering where they are and what they're doing? My friend Ilise Benun does.In the old days, when phones were attached to wires attached to walls, even if Ilise had never visited the person on the other end of the line, it wasn't hard for her to imagine them in their home or office. Cordless phones required a bit more imaginative energy. After all, the person could be on the patio or on the neighbor's lawn, and they didn't have to be attached to anything. Now, cell phones have geometrically increased the complications. There is no way for Ilise to tell in advance where the person will actually receive her call. And suppose she actually asked, "Where are you?" How could she know if the person were telling the truth? Until recently, there was no reliable way to tell. But through the magic of GPS, there will soon be nowhere for cell phone users to hide. GPS, or Global Positioning Systems, use satellite signals that communicate with computer chips to establish the exact location of a person or thing. The chips may be installed in cars, boats, PDAs, watchbands, and, yes, cell phones. They can even be implanted beneath the skin of an animal or a person, allowing ranchers to keep tabs on livestock, law enforcement agencies to monitor the whereabouts of parolees, parents to know with certainty where their children are, and worried relatives to monitor the safety of Alzheimer's patients. The Federal Communications Commission, aware that almost a third of 911 emergency calls are made from cell phones, sees life-saving potential in GPS technologies. By the end of this year, wireless communications carriers will be required to equip either their networks or the cell phones themselves with GPS systems capable of locating emergency callers within a radius of 300 feet or less. Paramedics will be able to speed to the scene, dramatically improving mortality rates without taxing their imaginations. The worthy goal of prompt emergency response is not without its downside. Privacy advocates have been quick to point out that if paramedics can locate accident victims via their cell phone chips, invasive commercial uses will be sure to piggyback on the mandatory new technology. Merchants will be able to beam advertisements to weary, hungry travelers just as they approach the appropriate off-ramp. Insurers and employers will be able to draw inferences about people's lifestyle and behavior based on locations they have visited -- and perhaps take punitive actions in response. When Ilise and I were discussing this subject recently, we remarked on our contrasting areas of focus when it comes to cell phones. You say "cell phone." Ilise says, "Where are you and how do I know you're really there? And besides, why are you and your annoying conversation invading the public space?" You say "cell phone." I say, "What a cool toy! Too bad we have to pay for our technology with our privacy. Or our treasured illusion of privacy. We have no privacy anymore, anyway." And then, last week, I went to Kansas City to work with an associate who recently moved there from Atlanta. His previous workplace was formal, well-appointed, modern, with a cool, corporate feel. When I visited there once, no one stopped by the office to say hello to either of us. That was how I imagined his new workplace. When I got to Kansas City, I found his new office located in a Victorian house, charming, informal, a tad run-down. Before I left, I had been greeted by every staff member in the place. Now, when I phone, I can see the who and the where. I know where the receptionist sits -- I can even greet her by name. I can see the old stained-glass transoms, the brick interior walls, and the card-table covered with neat piles of literature right near the entryway. I remember the rest room with the bright poster above the scarred old sink and the office supply cabinet on the back wall. And I know a little bit more about "why it's so important to know where someone is when I can't see them." Cordially, Lois C.
Ambash, Editor
MEDIA Promoting Tolerance in Cyberspace and the Real World According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), 602 hate groups were active last year in the United States, up 10 percent from 1999. And 366 of the groups had web sites, up 20 percent from the year before.Organizations that promote tolerance and diversity have responded in various ways to Web-based hate: filtering, public awareness campaigns, pressure on major Internet service providers and portals, even purchasing hateful domain names in order to redirect misguided surfers to a site that teaches tolerance. SPLC has just initiated a new response to the problem. In addition to launching Tolerance.org, an educational site funded by major corporate partners in the Internet and media industries, SPLC will begin serving targeted tolerance ads to Yahoo visitors searching for racist sites and chat rooms. Over the next three years, Yahoo will donate $3 million worth of ad space to the effort. SPLC is seeking similar donations from other Internet companies. Yahoo has been criticized for accommodating 100 "white pride and racialism" clubs among the thousands of community groups it hosts. In an interview with USA Today, University of Pennsylvania professor Joseph Turow, an expert on Internet advertising, said he believes targeted ads have never before been used to address "political controversy." He praised Yahoo for "trying to be a good corporate citizen in an area in which they're being criticized." Read Patrick McMahon's USA Today article by clicking on the link in the previous paragraph. To visit SPLC's new site, go to: www.tolerance.org
Access previous issues of Metaforix Mail by date by visiting our archives. Or use the search box on any page of the Metaforix site (www.metaforix.com) to search by keywords. INFORMATICON Alvin and Heidi Toffler on "The New Economy" "It is now clear that the entire digital revolution is only the first phase of an even larger, longer process. If you think the revolution is over, get ready to be shocked again as information technology fully converges with and is, in turn, remade by, the biological revolution."In the first phase, information technology revolutionizes biology. In the next phase, biology will revolutionize information technology. And that will totally, once again, revolutionize economies. Together these represent a turning point not just in economics, but in human history. "The upheaval in the stock market is extremely painful. But we will look back on it as a minor spike in the early history of the new economy of the 21st century." - Alvin and Heidi Toffler. "New Economy? You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet." The Wall Street Journal, 3/29/01.
CYBERSPEAK "Seven
Degrees of Internet Surfing" The researchers examined how long users stayed online, how much time they spent on each page, what kinds of sites they frequented, and how familiar they were with the sites. Seven "segments" emerged, ranging from one-minute "Quickies" to 70-minute "Surfing" sessions. From a marketing point of view, three of the segments have the greatest potential to influence purchasing behavior: "Information, Please" sessions average 37 minutes online, mix new and familiar sites, and include long stays on individual pages. "Loitering" sessions average 33 minutes online and 2 minutes per page, mostly on familiar sites. "Surfing" sessions encompass 45 mostly new sites or more per 70-minute session, at minute or so per page. To read about all "seven degrees of Internet surfing" and their implications, go to: www.cyberatlas.com
Performing Arts on Your Desktop Online Classics is a British site that streams an extraordinary repetoire of performing arts directly to your desktop. Live and recorded events include drama, film, opera, dance, and classical music of all genres. The repetoire grows as Online Classics continues to film new events.All events are available on audio and video, at various connection speeds, using the Windows media player. And, as the home page tells us, "at the moment, it's all free!" To enjoy the potpourri of classics while they're still free, go to: www.OnlineClassics.com
Guest Columnists and Interviewees Wanted! Metaforix
Mail seeks your opinions on how information technologies are (or are not)
changing your world of work.
Please note that the links contained in Metaforix Mail are current as of the time of publication. Some of them may no longer be operative at the time you access past issues. To
Volume 1, Issue 34 March 27, 2001 |
|
||
|
© 2000 -2001 Metaforix Incorporated
|
|||||
